As the nationwide number of monkeypox cases nears 20,000, one company in North Alabama is helping test against the virus.

DTPM is a small building in Fort Payne that's creating a nationwide impact in the medical field. Their new monkeypox test is the latest molecular test that DTPM offers.

"I watched things like this when I was growing up on TV, and their science fiction is what it feels like today. Because those are things that you just didn't think would be a part of our life," said Gene Cleckler, CEO of DTPM.

DTPM sells laboratory solutions, like test kits and machines, to medical offices, drug courts and reference labs throughout the United States.

The monkeypox test kit looks similar to the swab that doctors use to test for COVID-19, but instead of swabbing inside the nose, symptomatic people with monkeypox are swabbed on open sores. A machine then uses molecular testing to see if the sample is positive or negative for the monkeypox virus.

"Our customers needed it, because we do have customers in hot spots in areas in California and New York and other areas that needed the assay. They use a lot of our other assays for upper respiratory, UTI, different panels of ours — and so the monkeypox, they needed to add it, so that's why we developed it," explained Cleckler.

The company was able to develop the test quickly, in part from the hard work they put in to develop a COVID test in 2020.

"Initially, COVID came on the scene, and we actually designed our COVID test in late January of 2020. It was already designed by that time," said Cleckler.

DTPM has had a COVID PCR test since before the pandemic was named a pandemic. Back then, they were testing thousands of samples a day as COVID cases skyrocketed.

"Going through something like that, something that was so stressful, I guess you could say this is fairly easy now," said Leann Bryant, a molecular supervisor at DTPM.

She said that challenging time has made future molecular tests, like for monkeypox, seem easy in comparison.

"We're ready for whatever's next. Hopefully, we don't have anything next, but we're always ready to do what we need to do," said Bryant.

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